1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to active compound combinations and compostions for reducing the damage of plants and plant parts as well as losses in harvested fruits or vegetables caused by insects, nematodes or phytopathogens and which have fungicidal or nematicidal or insecticidal activity including any combination of the three activities, in particular within a composition, which comprises (A) Fluopyram, (B) a spore-forming bacterium of the genera Bacillus, selected from Bacillus firmus, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus pumilis, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus subtilis strain GB03, Bacillus subtilis strain QST713, and (C) at least one biological control agent, in particular bacteria, fungi or yeasts, protozoa, viruses, entomopathogenic nematodes, inoculants, botanicals and products produced by microorganisms including proteins or secondary metabolites. Moreover, the invention relates to a method for curatively or preventively controlling insects, nematodes or phytopathogens on the plant, plant parts, harvested fruits or vegetables, to the use of a combination according to the invention for the treatment of seed, to a method for protecting a seed and not at least to the treated seed.
2. Description of Related Art
Fluopyram is defined to be the compound of the formula (I)
as well as the N-oxides of the compound thereof.
Fluopyram is a broad spectrum fungicide of the chemical class of pyridylethylbenzamide derivatives with penetrant and translaminar properties for foliar, drip, drench and seed treatment applications on a wide range of different crops against many economically important plant diseases. It is very effective in preventative applications against powdery mildew species, grey mould and white mould species. It has an efficacy against many other plant diseases. Fluopyram has shown activity in spore germination, germ tube elongation and mycelium growth tests. At the biochemical level, fluopyram inhibits mitochondrial respiration by blocking the electron transport in the respiratory chain of Succinate Dehydrogenase (complex II—SDH inhibitor).
Fluopyram and its manufacturing process starting from known and commercially available compounds is described in EP-A 1 531 673 and WO 2004/016088.
A general description of the nematicidal activity of pyridylethylbenzamide derivatives is found in WO-A 2008/126922. A description of nematicidal activity of Bacteria, in particular Bacillus firmus is found in WO-A 1996/32840, a description of nematicidal activity of Bacillus chitinosporus is found in WO-A 9821966.
The use of bacteria such as Bacillus sp. as biological control agent in synergistic compositions with fungicides e.g. Fluopyram for controlling phytopathogenic organisms in agriculture is described e.g. in US 2011/0110906 A, US 2010/0249193 A, US 20100/209410 A, EP 2460407 A and WO 2012/016989. In these documents only binary mixtures of the biological control agent and Fluopyram are disclosed. WO 2012/038480 A discloses seeds of a plant comprising (a) a gene preferably Axmi031, and Axn2 (producing proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis), (b) a biological control agent preferably Bacillus firmus CNCM I-1582, (c) one or more insecticides (including biological control agents preferably Pasteuria and Verticillium and (d) one or more fungicides preferably Fluopyram. In this document Pasteuria and Verticillium are not further specified.
Since the environmental and economic requirements imposed on modern-day crop protection compositions are continually increasing, with regard, for example, to the spectrum of action, toxicity, selectivity, application rate, formation of residues, and favourable preparation ability, and since, furthermore, there may be problems, for example, with resistances, a constant task is to develop new compositions, in particular fungicidal or nematicidal agents, which in some areas at least help to fulfil the abovementioned requirements. The present invention provides active compound combinations/compositions which in some aspects at least achieve the stated objective.